First Indoor Banked Track Coming To Chicago, Illinois


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Sunday was a big day in Chicago, Illinois, as the city officially broke ground on an indoor track facility that Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes will boost the social economy of young athletes' futures in sports like track and field, volleyball, football and basketball. 

Emanuel announced that the Gately Indoor Track and Field facility, located at 744 E. 103rd Street, would become the first hydraulic indoor track facility in Illinois. Generating investments from the city, Exelon Corporation and After School Matters, the facility reportedly will cost approximately $50 million. 

The 3,500-seat facility will feature a six-lane track, pits for field events, locker rooms and concessions. 

Located on the South Side of Chicago, the 116,500-square foot facility will be one of six student sports centers being built for youth across the city.

It's successful groundbreaking was keyed by several individuals, including the former Harold Washington administration, which first began generating talks into the potential facility in 1983--Washington ran high school track at DuSable High School in 1939. 

Prominent African-American activist Conrad Worrill and eighth-ward Alderman Michelle Harris have worked tirelessly on behalf of the project, which took three decades to get off the ground, per The Chicago-Sun Times. 

The new center will reportedly act as a campus for After School Matters, a non-profit organization which offers summer programs and sports activities for young teens in Chicago.